


Velvet

by verus_janus (Methleigh)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-22
Updated: 2012-05-22
Packaged: 2017-11-05 19:40:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/410273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Methleigh/pseuds/verus_janus





	Velvet

Severus was trying to re-create Skele-Gro, but with his own improvements and refinements. It had been the Dark Lord's request, and it was not an offensive plan, but a protective one. It was for Severus' friends, for all of them who had grown up Slytherin together. So many requests were destructive. Even though the Dark Lord was gone and almost every one of those friends were dead or imprisoned, even though it was over, Severus continued to work.

There had been one ingredient he had not ever found, even though he had located a small shop that had once stocked it. He needed a quantity to develop his potion, and he needed a steady supply. It was antler velvet, which was easy enough, but he specifically needed the rare caribou antler velvet from the miniature flying caribou of the far north. Though they shed their antlers every year like any reindeer, they were illusive.

In late December an owl came to him, swooping into the Great Hall. He was surprised. Who was there left to send him a package? It was from the shop he had discovered with Rabastan, one sunny day. The shop that had once stocked the reindeer velvet.

In light of the season, it was wrapped in deep green paper and topped with a sprig of holly. _Compliments of Mr. R. Lestrange_ the note read. It was Rabastan's last gift: a standing order for his special ingredient when it became available. His friend had been thrown into Azkaban just a week before. He scowled to hide the ache of his emptiness, but he built a shelf in his quarters, not in the potions storeroom, just to store this one thing, to keep it near him. It was a remnant of Rabastan's lost life, a hint of his presence, his kindness, his soul.


End file.
